The Rumor Buster

Rumorbuster 2.5?

As you can no doubt see, we’ve finished rolling out our fresh new look, but we’ve got a few new features to talk about too!

First, we have to thank Livedog for the new logo, Clanure for the new gallery layout, and really_rather_not_nice for the idea of isolating links to the Board, gallery and Wiki. Now, onto some of the new features!

(1) The front page should now display a list of recent message board topics, right above the latest wiki edits. Previously, each individual front page post had a list of recent message board posts, but other than those that read us through RSS readers and whatnot, most people were just coming to the front page and not really seeing that what stuff we were discussing over here.

(2) The gallery has been streamlined. Gone are the columns and endless pages of thumbnails. We have a few more tweaks to make, but right now, the photos are categorized first by toy line, and then going into the toy line you can see the sub-serieses or individual waves. Also, the thumbnails are bigger, so you can get a better idea of what you’re looking at.

(3) Individual figure voting on the Rumorbuster Wiki! Each figure has a mini-poll attached to it so you can help rate individual figures. Visiting the Wolverine Super Hero Squad page, for instance you’ll see that each figure has a poll to the right where you can vote it. Same for Combat Heroes, Robot Heroes… all the Heroes lines! And eventually, it’ll come to the other toy lines too. A few votes have already been cast, but more votes are always welcome so be sure to vote when you visit!

(4) Galactic Heroes joins the rest of the Hasbro Heroes! Clanure’s already begun the arduous and thankless task of getting pictures of the Galactic Heroes and in addition to that, he’s also worked out a lot of the kinks in the Galactic Heroes checklist

So that’s a handful of the bigger changes, but there are some other features hanging around, and even a handful that aren’t fully implemented yet. As you can see, we’re still innovating and evolving, and we have no intention of stopping any time soon. It’s entirely possible that this time next year, you’ll be looking back at how quaint the Rumorbuster was back in the day, and if nothing else, we need to keep giving other sites new ideas.

If you’ve come across any of the other new features, feel free to mention them. Either it’s something that we’re still working on, or it’s something I’ve forgotten to mention, but either way, we look forward to comments, critiques and best of all suggestions.

Super Hero Squad Game leaked early?

There’s a new rumor that copies of the Super Hero Squad game have been pirated and leaked. It’s bunk. What’s “leaked” is a copy of M.U.G.E.N., a customizable video game engine that is user friendly (well, at least as far as these things get) to the point that more technically oriented fans can “create” new characters or borrow characters from other game franchises to pit them against each other in a Marvel vs. Capcom style 2d fighting game. The individuals posting the game, however, chose to include a text block describing the concept of Super Hero Squad (lovable super-styled Marvel characters!) and in some cases calling it Super Hero Squad. While this version of M.U.G.E.N. no doubt has some great playable characters, it’s not a leak of the Super Hero Squad, nor is it actually licensed.

So long story short, the Super Hero Squad game isn’t leaked, so don’t be fooled.

Marvel Universe Packaging Variants

A decidedly anonymous reader wrote in asking if there’s any truth to the rumor of Marvel Universe packaging variants. Short answer: yes.

Ok, there’s more to it than that. As with most big toy lines that are going to enjoy international distribution, there are various editions of the packaging to reflect the languages of the markets the figures will be released in. It also helps prevent potential issues in areas like Quebec which has requirements regarding the French language on packaging (see this recent article on a flap over English-only video games in Quebec for an example of some of the language laws.) One effect of this is that many of those individuals that purchased Marvel Universe figures from Canada (where the figures were released before the US date) were able to get the international packaging as shown at Toys N’ More’s review of Iron Man, which included a poster (a tri-lingual version of the character summary from the back of the card), bi-lingual registration cards and S.H.I.E.L.D. profiles. The cardback also features more figures than the English-only version released in the US and shown below:

So there you go, for the uber-MOC collector, there’s always the international packaging figures to collect!

A Summary of the Squad’s Rumors

This first complete month was quick and even though I didn’t have nearly as much time as I would have liked to devote to this page, I think we went over a lot of topics. Hopefully, this over-view of the posts will evolve in format, and maybe eventually we’ll move to a real website, but for now, here’s what we discussed so far. Tags are great, wave of the future and everything, but they depend on you understanding the context of the tag, and finding another post with that tag. Since some of these posts deal with multiple topics, they might be linked a couple of times. And finally, because some topics come up in multiple posts, I’m going to explain the topic,and just number the links after it. It’s a design in progress.

City in Crisis
What is City in Crisis, and who is in it? Is that Green Goblin? Someone told me Kraven was in it, and someone else said Vulture?1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Collector’s Pack 2
Is it coming out? I heard that it was pulled because Hasbro thought characters in wheelchairs don’t sell, and, well, this is the set with Professor X after all. Who else was in it, and isn’t this the Collector’s Pack that was announced like, Summer 2007?1, 2, 3, 4

Costumes/Designs:
How Comic Accurate is Sabretooth’s costume1
Are Version 1 Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman 616 designs or are they Ultimate? 1
Is Ultimate Hulk really mega-pack worthy? 1, 2
Why do Customizers make Stealth Iron Man blue? 1

Hulk Wave 1
Where can I find it? Who’s in it? Was Abomination included or was he pulled? 1, 2, 3

Hulk Wave 3
Who’s in it? Is it official? Can it really include Zzzax, Leader and Doc Samson? 1

Iron Man
Is there an Iron Man 5-pack? 1
Who did the design work? 1

Iron Man Wave 2
What figures? Are they just repaints? 1, 2

Kids Play
Aren’t Super Hero Squad toys for kids? Ages 3 and up, man… why don’t you go with the uber-mature Marvel Legends?

Kraven
Is Kraven coming out? Maybe in the Collector’s Pack? I heard he was in a Four Pack?1, 2

Marvel Legends
Isn’t that line dead? Aren’t internet rumors always true? 1

Mini-Mates
Do you know of a totally subjective, absolutely authoritative way to know which is better: Mini-Mates or Super Hero Squad? 1

New York City Comic Con 2008 (AKA NYCC 2008)
Who’s got pictures? Who went, and what was shown? 1, 2, 3

Prototypes/Unreleased Figures
I thought I saw a different Venom sculpt? Isn’t Storm’s cape upside-down from the picture? 1

Recall
I tried to buy some Hulk figures early, but I was told there’s a recall. Where can I get solid info on a potential recall, find out if a toy is recalled, and why did my attempted early purchase of Hulk figures trigger that message? 1

Size Changes:
Are Super Hero Squad figures going to be 3-inch from now on? 1

Spider-Man
Maybe I’m crazy, but there seems to be a lot of Spider-Man figures out there. What’s the deal? 1

Super Hero Squad
Where can I see what figures have been released so far, or at least a good chunk of them?1
Who does design work on the line? 1

Super Hero Squad Wave 7 (note: I’m using the “4 packs to a wave” numbering, just for simplicity’s sake)
Spider-Woman, Cable, Deadpool oh my! Where can I find this wave? Is it out yet? 1,

Super Hero Squad Wave 10
Blade, Red Skull, Electro and Sentry? Awesome. Where, when and what do they look like? 1, 2, 3

Winter Soldier Saga
Who’s in it, and where are the pictures? 1, 2

X-Men
How many X-Men 4-packs have been made/are known to be in the pipeline? 1